3 June Birthstones That Aren’t Pearl
June is one of those months that no one can really seem to agree conclusively what the birthstone should be. Traditional stones associated with the month include turquoise, agate and alexandrite while modern additions include pearl and moonstone. Here we look at the birthstones of June and their many colours.
Agate
Of the birthstones associated with June, agate is the one we use the most because it comes in a vast quantity of colours and is reasonably priced. Agate is a type of silica, similar to chalcedony, which is also given as a birthstone for the month in both Russian and Polish systems.
The stone was named by a Greek philosopher named Theophrastus who was also a naturalist and found the stone along the river Achates in the 3rd century BC. The stone became popular for carvings and has been around in sites around the ancient world including in Knossos in Crete.
There are plenty of different types of agate as well as colours including banded and striped agates. The way the stone forms also gives rise to different types of the stone that have different finishes such as the moss agate, which has a pattern like a plant growing inside it.
Greek agate is white to tan in shade and is found in Sicily, being used to make jewellery back in Greek times. Brazilian agate comes in shades of brown with white and grey interlayers. Carnelian is often known in its own right and is a reddish shade as is blue lace agate. Others include Botswana agate, plume agate, condor agate and fire agate.
Alexandrite
Alexandrite is a type of chrysoberyl, itself a type of beryllium and the same group of minerals as emerald. Alexandrite is both a stone and a colour change effect that depends on the light. This changes the stone from a greenish shade to a reddish shade.
The stone was first discovered by a Finnish mineralist Nils Gustaf Nordenskold and named it for the future Tsar Alexander II of Russia with the first mine opening in the Ural Mountains area in 1831. Originally, the largest stones came from that area but larger ones have now been found in Brazil, India, Madagascar, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. In jewellery, it is often a pale bluish-lilac stone that can be faceted for use in fine jewellery.
Moonstone
Moonstone is a type of feldspar and is made of layers that create the visual effect the stone is noted for. It can appear numerous colours including blue, white, pink, green, brown and grey.
It has been used in jewellery for centuries with the Romans believing it was a solidified form of the moon’s rays while both Romans and Greek associated it with their moon deity. It was also very popular during the Art Nouveau period with the French goldsmith Rene Lalique using a lot of the gemstone in his jewellery.
In modern times, moonstones are mined in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Mexico, Madagascar, Myanmar, Norway, Poland, India, and Sri Lanka and in the US. It is the state gem for Florida, where the moon landings departed from, despite the stone not actually occurring in the state naturally.
